Night Sky
by ablondeinaunionjack
Summary: Col can't get to sleep...a night-time trip with Connie might just be the solution. Not as dodgy as that summary sounds, honestly. ConniexCol, obviously, basically fluff. Everything belongs to Julia Golding.


**This is for Darling Summers for...conversations :D And to SapphireOceans for giving me advice and stopping me from being an idiot ;) **

Col lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He just couldn't sleep tonight; he'd been lying there for hours, watching the patterns on the walls made by the moonlight filtering in from his window. He closed his eyes, trying in vain to get some sleep before the morning. At that moment, there was a tap on the glass. Col tensed, and he lay very still for a few moments until he heard it again. Tap, tap, tap. Then, all was again silent apart from the ticking of his bedside clock. Cautiously, Col rolled over and got out of bed, pulling a pair of jeans on to combat the cold of the room. The central heating wasn't working again. Col moved over to the window, picking his way gingerly through the debris on the floor, and musing that he should really tidy his room soon. There was another tap at the window.

"All right, I'm coming!" he muttered.

The moment he reached the window, he saw the cause of the tapping and grinned. It was Connie, in her silver dragon form. He opened the window and stuck his head out.

"Connie! What are you doing here?" he asked, smiling.

She morphed into a siren and began to speak.

"Thought you might want a trip out. It's so beautiful out here – there are so many stars out, and..." Connie grinned shamefacedly. "I wanted to see you."

"Fine by me," laughed Col. "But keep your voice down, will you? Gran will _not_ be happy to find a siren waiting outside for me!"

Connie smiled, looking even prettier that she usually did in the moonlight.

"Well, then." She shifted into a pegasus form. "Is that better?"

Col laughed, and, pausing only to tug on a sweatshirt without bothering with a t-shirt, climbed out of the window onto the pegasus' broad back and buried his face in her mane. She flew up into the night sky, where the constellations glittered like jewels against their black backdrop.

"Well, don't waste your time looking down! Look up! That's why I brought you!" laughed Connie.

Col raised his face and looked up at the stars, trying to remember the names that Rat had taught him.

"That one that looks like a saucepan is the Great Bear, right?" he queried.

Connie laughed.

"I think so. Didn't Rat teach you all these?"

"Um...he tried to," answered Col bashfully.

"Idiot" teased Connie. "You know what the Pegasus looks like, right?"

"Yeah, I know that one."

Col looked up and saw the constellation known as the Pegasus twinkling brightly. He leant down and whispered in her ear.

"But the real thing's better."

Connie blushed, and shook her mane shyly.

"And look, there's Orion!" she called out, flying straight up so Col could see it.

Col looked up at it, a grin settling on his face. He loved being out with Connie like this, encountering her, and just _being_ with her. They were so much closer now; they didn't even need to speak, they could just talk in their heads, sharing secrets that they wouldn't let anyone else know about.

"Col" said Connie suddenly, disturbing his thoughts. "I've got a surprise for you."

"What?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise then, would it?" asked Connie, laughing. "I'll show you when we get down."

She folded her pegasus wings in and went smoothly into a perfect Athenian Dive.

"Hey! Have you been practising?" demanded Col jokingly.

"Maybe," replied Connie teasingly, landing softly on the ground.

"Where are we?" asked Col, dismounting reluctantly.

Connie blurred for a moment, and then became herself again.

"Follow me, and you'll find out!"

Col ran after her as she led the way through what looked to be a field. Eventually he saw a shape looming in front of him, and he called after Connie.

"Where are we going?" he asked again.

She half-turned back to him with a grin on her face.

"Shh!" she replied, pressing a finger to her lips. "We're nearly there!"

Col reflected on how pretty she looked, with the moonlight making her hair silvery, and her eyes shine; and how lucky he was to have her. He didn't deserve her, he knew that: she was so pretty, so amazing, so...talented. With a shake of his head, he ran after her to the dark shape in front of them. When they reached it, Connie turned back to Col.

"What do you think?"

It was the Devil's Tor, shining silver-grey in the moonlight, against the tiny, ragged white clouds scudding across the sky.

"It looks amazing," declared Col, although he wasn't thinking just of the tor.

"Well, come on then!"

Connie was already scrambling up the stone, and she looked expectantly down at Col, who began to climb up after her. They soon reached the leveled plateau around three quarters of the way up, where they sat and looked down onto the moonlit landscape. Cautiously, Col put an arm around her, letting her rest against him.

"Isn't it beautiful up here?" she murmured.

"Yeah. We haven't done this for a long time."

"We should do it more often. Definitely."

"Definitely" agreed Col. "So...Connie."

"Yeah?" Connie looked up at him, resting her chin on his arm. "What?"

"I know I've been away a lot with the Olympic team, but...you know if I could, I'd still be here, right?"

Connie frowned slightly.

"Yeah, of course. Why do you think I wouldn't?"

"Well...Sh-"

"Wait! You weren't going to say Shirley, were you?"

"Erm..." said Col uncomfortably.

"You were, weren't you?"

Connie propped herself up on one arm and stared into Col's eyes.

"Don't you ever, _ever_ mention her on our dates!" she mock-scolded. Col defended himself with one arm.

"Hey! Okay, I was going to mention that, but only because it's a rumour going around!"

"Don't you dare listen to rumours about me, unless I tell you them! Okay?"

Col almost laughed at her fierce expression.

"Okay!" he managed in a strangled voice.

He gave into his laughter, and leant against the tor as he gasped for breath.

"Hey!" said Connie, punching him lightly in the stomach. "Don't laugh at me!"

Col looked back up into her eyes and smiled.

"Sorry. Just..."

He leant across, strangely aware of everything: the smooth, cold rock under his hand; the way the moonlight shone on Connie's cheek; the faint smell of shampoo in her hair. Feeling tense and nervous, he leant over further.

At that moment, Connie shifted into a silver rock dwarf in her nervousness, making Col stop. He leant back, looking slightly embarrassed. Connie's cheeks were bright red as she shifted back into her human form.

"Great" she said sarcastically. "Way to ruin a perfect moment, Connie!"

Col smiled.

"It _is_ a perfect moment. You're here."


End file.
